PANDEMIC 'UNFAIR' TO HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES

FHS senior Robichaud reflects on missing spring season on diamond

FITCHBURG — When the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association made its final decision on April 24 to cancel all spring high school sports and tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it sent shockwaves through the state.

It was crushing to every single spring athlete.

For seniors, it was devastating and the worst news possible.

“It just seems unfair, but there’s nothing anybody can do about it,” said Fitchburg High senior captain and catcher, Sammy Robichaud. “It's hard for me to be upset about things I can't control, but this was so unexpected, and it hits a soft spot I never knew was there. This baseball season is one I have been looking forward to for years, and now it will never happen, and I just wish I knew my last time stepping on the field junior year was going to be my last.”

Now, on the baseball diamond, Robichaud and his fellow seniors can only look back on their final high school game played as juniors in a Central Mass. Division 1 first-round, 8-4 loss at St. John’s of Shrewsbury.

“I worked in the weight room three times a week since December to try to be in shape for baseball,” Robichaud said. “And before I even knew it, it was snatched from me. I never would have thought, it's just all by surprise, and it's just tough. But for me, the St. John’s game was basically a win. We took them by surprise and almost pulled out a win, which nobody expected. “We played our best baseball, and I will always remember my final at-bat. St. John’s brought in a kid who threw the hardest we had seen all season, and with a 3-2 count, I knocked a single down the right-field line. It was nothing too crazy, but knowing my last at-bat was a hit at least makes me feel a little better about the situation.”

Seniors who play spring sports are only left with memories now, and the thoughts of what could have been in the spring of 2020.

“I really do feel robbed of my senior year, especially since I knew that we had some real potential this year,” Robichaud said. “We had a lot of veteran talent being backed up by some young guns who can play. I had no hopes, but expectations to make the playoffs, and I knew if we got there I wasn't going home without a playoff win.”

Even though Robichaud’s high school athletic career is officially over, he’s still powering the weights, running, throwing and hitting in hopes of being able to play American Legion baseball for Leominster Post 151 – one of the top programs in the state year in and year out – this summer.

There’s work still to be done in school, too. Despite all schools being shut down, students have had to transition from a classroom setting to learning remotely.

“This communication through social media really doesn't cut it for me,” said Robichaud, an Honors Academy student who has narrowed his college choices down to UMass Lowell, Quinnipiac University and Fitchburg State University. “I need to be taught with a whiteboard, not a PDF online, and I need to talk to my friends and joke with them face-to-face, not through the phone. It's just different and some adjustment needs to be made.”

Adjustments in life and learning are happening daily, and seniors everywhere are filled with pain and sadness as they try to cope with losing a good portion of their senior year.

“I am missing what is supposed to be the best times of high school,” Robichaud said. “I am missing awards nights, my graduation, my senior prank, beach week, senior skip day and my senior baseball season. The times that I am missing out on are the times that kids look forward to and adults wish they could go back to. I am missing the times that your parents tell you about when they were in high school.”

Robichaud says he’s missing a lot currently.

“Something I really miss is a routine,” he said. “I could try to stick to one, but it's hard when there’s nothing important to keep you to it. Every day is different, and that has its pros and cons. But I miss seeing my friends every day and interacting with different people. I also miss baseball; it's just a big piece of my life that is missing right now. My life seems incomplete.”

The toughest part for Robichaud, he says, during this pandemic has been trying to have faith that something is going to come around and that things will get better.

“Now, since there’s nothing to look forward to, it's hard to really find motivation for anything,” he said. “It seems like everything was taken away so fast, and it's so tough. It's tough to know that there is nothing I can do about any of it.”

There has been a gigantic positive that has come from this pandemic, however.

“Personally, I really got close with my brother during this time,” Robichaud said. “We are very different people, and we have never really had the relationship I wanted to have. But with all this time, I have learned what he wants and who he really is, and I would say our relationship is the best it has ever been.”

This pandemic has cemented the coaching lessons to athletes about never take a play off or not giving 100 percent maximum effort because you never know when it will be your last play.

“As an athlete, this just really, really emphasizes not to take things for granted,” said Robichaud, who missed two games during the football season due to an LCL knee injury suffered in Week 1 at West Springfield. “I really enjoyed every minute of my football season, and when it came to an end I really did not know how to feel. I felt so lost, in all honesty, and I didn't touch my bag of stuff from the locker room for a month because I was so upset. And I still reminisce on that season what seems like every day, although it was really helpful to look forward to baseball season.”

Robichaud calls this entire coronavirus experience as “weird.”

“I think that there is something in the class of 2020’s future that is going to make up for all of this,” he said. “Some are happy school is over, some are not, some are mad about no sports, and some don't care. Truth is everyone feels differently about different things. But I think that most, if not all of us seniors, wish we could just do our final activities and run in the relays one more time, and have senior skip day and do our senior prank. This experience has definitely been a wild one and for many different reasons.

“It still feels so unreal, and reality really hit hard. This is something that I will never forget. It seems as if every generation has an event they will never forget and this is ours.”

If this is the final goodbye to so many that have positively impacted Robichaud in his high school career, he has a message for everyone.

“If I can say anything to my fellow seniors, teammates, coaches, teachers and friends, it would be thank you,” Robichaud said. “Thank you for all the experiences we have been through, all the lessons we’ve learned, all the problems we’ve solved and the challenges we have faced. Thank you for just everything. If I could go back, there really isn't a lot that I would change.”